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20,000 Sudanese refugees flee to South Sudan border

01 June 2012 20:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday estimated that around 20,000 refugees have fled to the border areas between Sudan and South Sudan due to fighting that took place in Sudan’s Blue Nile state over the last few weeks, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

UNHCR cited new arrivals in the Elfoj border area, saying that they fled because of the ongoing bombing and ground fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North in Blue Nile.

Evidences indicate that up to 40,000 more people could still be en route to South Sudan.

As refugees continue to coming in, refugee camps in South Sudan are undergoing tremendous strains. The UN refugee agency said Doro camp is running out of space, with more than 37,000 refugees already living there, while Jammam camp is still grappling with a lack of water despite continuing efforts to drill deeper into the ground.

UNHCR is in the process of relocating 15,000 refugees from Jammam to Doro and Batil to ease congestion and the pressure on limited water supplies in Jammam.

The current influx brings the total number of Sudanese refugees in South Sudan’s Upper Nile to about 100,000. To the west, Unity state is hosting another 38,000 refugees from Sudan’s South Kordofan state.